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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015936">The right hand man</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moony_M00N12/pseuds/Moony_M00N12'>Moony_M00N12</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coping, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, No Smut, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, actually interesting character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:55:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015936</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moony_M00N12/pseuds/Moony_M00N12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophia Wilheim had ambitions, she wanted to be one of the best soldier, she wanted to be known so she could be safe inside the walls. Having a reputation would help her to explain the truth of this world to the government. Before that, she will have to prove her worth by hardworking and proving herself inside the survey corps, inside a special squad. Sophia wouldn’t have thought they would arrest her in front of her commander, Erwin Smith, but there she is, inside a cold black cell of the military police.</p>
<p>Enjoy this slow burn fanfic ! Fyi, this story begins ~7 to 10 years before the fall of wall Maria, it will then join the anime/manga story arc.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hange Zoë/Original Female Character(s), Levi Ackerman &amp; Original Female Character(s), Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. On Paradis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Out of breath, a silhouette was approaching the gigantic wall of the Shiganshina district. It was dark, only a small light coming from the moon was guiding her way and lightning her face. The woman was sweaty, tired, her clothes were dirty, her hair were messy, but her eyes were shining with hope and determination as she looked up to the massive door. <br/>She knew what was behind, her salvation. A noise made her jumped, she prepared herself to be facing a titan or anything. A man on a horse, with a torch came to her. She sighed, relieved. </p>
<p>« What are you doing out there ?! » screamed the man, more concerned than angry, « You wanna be eaten you brat ? »</p>
<p>He was wearing a brown uniform with an ecusson. « A soldier ? » She thought, happy to have found someone with a horse as her legs gave away. She fell from tiredness, not having any strength left to carry her. The man got down from his horse to catch her just in time before she hit the hard ground. She couldn’t quite see his face as the moon hid herself behind a dark cloud.</p>
<p>« Wow wow », said the soldier, « Here. » </p>
<p>She wanted to thank him but only an inaudible whisper got out of her mouth. <br/>He helped the woman to hop on the horse. As they rode together inside the city, he told her things like she was unconscious going out there alone, what the hell was she wearing and some other things but she wasn’t really listening to his words, just to the sound of it. Oh it was nice to finally hear someone again. When they arrived inside the wall, she let herself to fall more and more in an unconscious state. She didn’t need to fight anymore, she could finally rest. She was so tired that she didn’t hear the man yelling orders to his subordinates. All became black, and the woman fell into the magical world of sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hange Zoe was having her breakfast in the hall of the trainee camp. All excited to teach more and more about titans, to help the research and to understand these, in their terms, wonderful creatures. A friend of them, who didn’t really understood their peculiar fascination for these abominations, was walking towards the redhead with glasses, a plate in her hands. She sat down, in front of Hange.</p>
<p>“-Hi Sophia ! Are you excited for today ?!” shouted Hange, sparkles in her eyes.</p>
<p>“-Hi Hange”, sighed Sophia, “Let me guess, we have theory about the titans right ?”</p>
<p>“Yes ! There is so much left to learn from them”, replied Hange with a drool on the corner of her lips.</p>
<p>Sophia sighed, she wasn’t as enthusiastic as her dear friend, she was lost in her own thoughts about the day to come. It had been more than two years that her training had begun, but she couldn’t master the odm gear like she wanted to. She had the basics, she could flew from tree to tree, but it was shallow and unsure. If she didn’t improve, she wouldn’t be able to get on Hange’s team and the graduation ceremony, where they were meant to chose a regiment was approaching. Hange was doing their best to comfort her, and to help her get on their squad. Sophia wasn’t a cadet, she was already over twenty years old when she started her training. Hange and her became close friend due to the fact that they were the same age and Sophia was actually one of the few to actually pay attention to Hange’s weird interest. </p>
<p>“-Look ! There he is ! The prodigal soldier !” shouted Hange to her friend, disturbing her in her train of thoughts.</p>
<p>Sophia glanced in the direction Hange was pointing to, to see a short young man with dark hair and a non emotional face. </p>
<p>“-Levi...” murmured Sophia, frowning, “How the hell did he manage to become this good this quick ?” </p>
<p>Hange shoock her head, they didn’t know either. She had heard of him as the one who managed to become Captain in a short amount of time, after having mastered every aspects of the training. He also had proved himself in battle, but he had also lost his entire squad this day she heard, this was years ago apparently. Sophia hated to admit it but she was frustrated as hell. She had trained day and night, alone, with help, and when she saw the prodigal one do everything she struggled to perfectly without proper training, she fulminated. In the slight hope to ever beat this guy, she began to train even harder than before. Of course her primary goal was to help humanity, but her tiny ego wanted a bit more than that.</p>
<p>The “prodigal one“ turned his face and met with the cold brown eyes of Sophia. She knew she was fixing him intensively and she wanted him to know what was going her behind her eyes. « I am gonna be stronger, I am gonna be one of the best. Just you wait and watch me kick your ass. » He fixed her without showing any emotions, nonetheless he was a bit shaken on the inside at the view of such cold eyes. </p>
<p>“-Tch.”</p>
<p>He turned away and went elsewhere, without preoccupying himself from what had just happened. Sophia swore to herself, that she will get better, just to prove to this guy, to Hange’s squad, that she was worthy of becoming their teammate. She then left her friend to go to training, determined to progress.</p>
<p>In hand to hand combat, she was the best of her promo, beating everyone in sight. Most of her comrades were younger than her but already full of pride. Mostly, it was the young men who couldn’t admit their defeat and always wanted a rematch with her. A tall blond men, with a smirk on his face approached her, telling her he wanted to fight again. </p>
<p>“-Again ?” asked Sophia, a bit irritated, “You want to get your ass beaten again, the last five times weren’t enough ?”</p>
<p>He nodded, with a big smile. « What a dumbass » she thought to herself. She had got into position and signified she was ready to begin when she spotted, right in front of her, Hange and Levi having a discussion not far away from the ring. “Discussion » was a big word, it was mostly Hange talking with big gestures and Levi listening, or at least pretending to. His eyes were watching Sophia, she caught a glimpse of curiosity in them. « Just watch, I will show you. »<br/>He was actually curious, this woman had caught his attention, with her dark cold brown eyes, and the determination emaning from them. He was curious to see her fight this big guy as she was smaller than him and seemed fragile. <br/>Sophia knew Hange and him were watching the training to spot some recruits for their special squad. She had to show them what she had in her guts.</p>
<p>“-Let’s begin”, she said to the brat in front of her.</p>
<p>He trew a punch directly to her face, she dodged it without difficulties. The big guy was too big for this kind of attack, in this combat she had an advantage of height. As the punch pulled him forward, she launched her knees in full speed inside the belly of the guy and hit his back with her elbows. Out of breath, the guy fell on the ground, but quickly got up and this time he tried to kick her with his leg, trying to make her fall. She jumped to avoid his attack and threw her foot in the air, aiming for his head which she hit. The big guy fell hard on the ground, knocked out. </p>
<p>She looked up to see Hange and Levi watching her, Hange had a big smile on their face and two thumbs up, Levi didn’t show any emotion as always.</p>
<p>“-She’s not bad”, he said to Hange.</p>
<p>They didn’t believe their ears and stuttered something to approve. He spoke, and way more than that, he gave a compliment to someone. <br/>Sophia knew she had made a good impression, proud of herself she watched her friend go away with the new Captain. </p>
<p>“-Had enough ?” she asked to the guy bailing on the ground.</p>
<p>Few of his comrades had come to help him, telling him he was mad to still ask for a fight after being beaten up so many times. Sophia turned around and went away to the next part of the day, ODM Gear manoeuvring.</p>
<p>As previously said, she wasn’t proud of her flying and wanted to be better. She wasn’t bad at all, but she wasn’t good enough to get on a special squad and that was her goal. Ever since she had arrived here, she only wanted to get in the military to help the people living here, to prevent the fall coming on. She knew she couldn’t ever save them all but hoped to save a great amount of people. Sophia put her equipment up, stretched her harness, took some gaz and present herself to the chief. He nodded and told her to go join the others in the forest to cut some cardboard’s titans. She felt anxious, she knew there would be people from the scout regiment watching. It wasn’t the moment to screw it up.</p>
<p>She launched herself in the air, aiming for a branch in height that would let her see the targets more easily. Again, she saw her friend with the captain and another man, tall and blond, she deduced that it was Erwin, the commander. After all, the ceremony was coming and they were curious about the potentials new recruits, so it was normal for the commander to show up and observe them.</p>
<p>Comrades went flying by her as she stood on the branch, she watched them handling their swords with a tight grip, afraid their hands might let go of them. Even if it was only cardboard titans, some had fear in their eyes, like they were on the battle ground fighting real one. Though most of the cadets had never seen any of them, those who had were silent and calm, you could see in their eyes what they had seen, pure horror. It was the case of Sophia as well, her brown eyes were cold and calm, they were showing what she had unfortunately seen.</p>
<p>“-Go Sophiaaa !” shouted Hange from the ground with both of their arms up.</p>
<p>Throwing a last look to the scouts, Sophia let herself fall of the tree. She heard Hange’s screams as they looked at their friend going straight to the ground. At the very last moment, the trainee launched her flares in another tree and went flying high in the direction of a so-called titan. She aimed for its neck and threw her swords right at it.</p>
<p>« Shit. Too shallow. »</p>
<p>She missed by a feet, not cutting its nape perfectly to kill it. Disappointed in herself she flew again to another one, preparing her blades for cutting the fake neck. This time she managed to land a good strike, cutting the cardboard on the right place. As she was flying, she turned around to look at the cut she just made and saw two hooded silouhete tes flying towards her.</p>
<p>« Huh ? I thought I was the last one of the group. » Sophia shut any idea coming in her head and focused on the training. « Maybe it’s just some very late trainees. » She couldn’t focus perfectly, the two figures were moving with such facilities, it wasn’t possibly any of the young soldiers. The future scout began to stress out, she began to think irrationally as flashbacks flew through her mind. Suddenly, she wasn’t in the forest anymore, she found herself on the street of her hometown, running away from two men. Panting, she tried to outrun them by taking a small street to avoid the crowded area. Looking behind her, hoping to not see the two men, she ran into something hard and lost balance. While falling, Sophia saw the top of the tree getting further and further away, realising what just happened, she reacted quickly and launched her flares into the nearest branch in order to get herself away from the hard ground. When she got on the tree, she stopped a bit to catch her breath, still shaking from her previous flashback. The two hooded silhouettes arrived and Sophia recognised Hange and Levi, stopping in the same tree as her, just two branches above her.</p>
<p>“ - What just happened ? “, asked Hange, concerned.</p>
<p>Sophia felt her blood rushing to her ears, she became red with shame, feeling their eyes on her, the cold, emotionless grey eyes of Levi judging the poor performance she just gave. She had promised herself to show her friend and this captain what she was capable of and yet let her past nightmares took advantage of her.</p>
<p>“ - Nothing, I just lost balance.” Sophia replied, avoiding their looks.</p>
<p>Without further words, she departed again, cursing herself. The rest of the training, she successfully cut most of the cardboard’s napes and joined her fellow trainees. The chief of the regiment came to congratulate her for her skills but also to scold her about the incident in the forest, saying that, in real conditions, a titan could have grabbed her and ate her in the space of a blink.</p>
<p>« You don’t have to remind me, I am scolding myself enough already. » </p>
<p>Sophia spotted Hange and went to meet her, not listening to her superior still trying to scold her. He stopped when he saw her leaving, knowing as well as his trainee that she already was really hard on herself. <br/>As she approached, Hange was giggling with a certain excitement.</p>
<p>“ - Hi Hange ! Why are you giggling, did you find a titan ? “ said Sophia with a smirk on her face. </p>
<p>She really liked Hange, they were full of energy, joy, and motivation. It was nice being around them, even if they liked titan a bit too much to Sophia’s taste. They were supportive and always looking on the bright side even when there seemed to be no light at all.</p>
<p>“ - Hi ! No, unfortunately ! But I’m working on it ! Huu where was I... Ah yes ! You made quite a good impression to the Commander ! “ they shouted, hugging Sophia tightly above the ground.</p>
<p>“ - Erf... Let-me breath- Hange. “</p>
<p>Hange let her go and Sophia was happy to be able to breath again.</p>
<p>“ - Really ? I made a good impression ? Even with my... performance ? “ asked the trainee, not knowing if they were serious or just being nice to her.</p>
<p>“ - Yes ! Well, these sorts of things happened to everyone, Erwin knows your overall score too. “ smiled Hange with compassion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sophia was walking to her room in the barracks, lost in her thoughts. The graduation ceremony was already scheduled for the next day and she always knew which regiment to chose. <br/>« The survey corps of course. » Though, she still wanted more than just be a scout, she wanted to become someone, to be part of the special squad, now directed by the new captain, Levi Ackermann. By doing so, she would be known and respected by the soldiers but also by the higher-ups. Being good wasn’t enough for her, she had to be excellent in order to get respect and also to be able to protect herself. People had threatened her many times already, for various reasons. If she wanted to change things, she had to be known, no one would make a martyr out of a famous person. Walking towards her, Levi was also lost in his thoughts, he still needed to prove the Commander he was worth of his trust, and he had to chose people for his squad. He didn’t want the best of the best, but they had to be able to protect themselves and follow his orders without any questions or doubts. A delusional brat, going by themselves would jeopardise his entire squad and put everyone in danger. No one would be dying because of him or his squad, he wanted to make sure of this. <br/>Sophia looked at him when she passed by but he didn’t even seem to acknowledge her. She stopped right after, he continued on his path, as she clenched her fist she turned around and said with the most assured voice she could take and her fist on her heart;</p>
<p>“ - I want to be part of your squad ! “</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please leave kudos if you liked it ! It would mean a lot to me !! Thank your for reading !</p>
<p>I know my english writing isn’t very good, but I promise the next chapters will be better written.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2 : The Survey corps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy this new chapter !</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everyone was gathered in front of the scene to hear what the different garnison had to say to them, fresh recruits. Sophia looked around her, most of the people were wearing a frightened and stressed look as if they didn’t want to be there. All in ranks, the top ten of their promo in front, they waited for the beginning. Sophia was within the top ten, at the fourth place, many people told her to go in the military police as her scores were pretty good. But every time they tried to make her the offer, she refused, saying she didn’t want to be part of a rotten system of privileged people spitting on the weakest. After many attempts, they finally let her alone when she threatened them with a knife. She had to do a few days of punishment for this incident. Sophia smiled as she thought at this memory.</p>
<p>The commander Erwin Smith climbed on the scene, he was very tall and impressive, he began to talk with a strong and leading <br/>“- Cadets ! You have endured a hard training, if you are here tonight, that means you are made to be soldiers. You will now have to chose your garnison, for most of you, it will be a choice between the Garrison and the Survey Corps. For few of you, between the Military Police, the Garrison and the Survey Corps. As commander of the Scouts, I ask you to join us. You may know before that, every year, more than thirty percent do not come back home to their families. For those who have already seen what a titan can do I am sure you already made your choice.“ </p>
<p>He glanced in the direction of Sophia, his bright blue eyes in her dark brown eyes. She shivered, he had an aura no one could step away from, but she didn’t break the contact neither, wanting to prove herself even more.</p>
<p>“- I know, you feel as we made no progress at all, but let me tell you that each day we are approaching to the truth, we are one step away to save humanity ! Those who want to dedicate their heart to this cause, stay here, the others you are dismissed.“</p>
<p>As soon as he finished his sentence, many young soldiers left, fleeing from the crowd and the responsibilities. Sophia watched them go, afraid. </p>
<p>« Fools, you won’t be safer inside the walls, you won’t be safe anywhere soon. » </p>
<p>She couldn’t blame them though, it was hell out there, no sane person would love to be eaten by a titan or worse, to see friends and family being eaten. Seeing so many people leaving, she began to doubt herself too. Sophia had never questioned her choice until now, always sure of what to do and when. To give herself courage, she looked up to the Commander with her fist clenched on her heart, straight as possible. She spotted Levi in the background, his cold grey eyes on her.</p>
<p>«  How long has he been watching me ? »</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“- You want to be part of my squad ?“ asked Levi without turning around to face the determined eyes of Sophia.</p>
<p>“- Ay ! “</p>
<p>He finally turned to face her, arms crossed on his chest, a doubtful look on his face. The captain was wondering why the hell this trainee was so full with determination. She didn’t move, staying still as a rock, she fixed Levi deep down in his eyes. </p>
<p>“- You’ll have to prove yourself a bit more than what you did today, brat.“</p>
<p>“- I will. But you’ll have to take me on your squad so I can show it to you.“ replied Sophia without any hesitation.</p>
<p>“- Tch. You’re barely above the average and you want to be on my team ? Good luck with that.“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sophia remembered his words when she made eye contact with him. She knew he was harsch on her, not because he despised her or anything, it was simply a tactic of selection. People with a real big ego would have kicked him in the face, people who don’t have one would have left with their tails between their legs. She looked around and saw about thirty people still being there. The commander smiled and nodded to them.</p>
<p>“- I gladly welcome you to the Scout regiment ! This is a true salute !“<br/>He put his fist on his heart, all of the remainings cadets did the same and saluted him. In one and unique strong voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were asked to be ready for 7 am the next day, they also received their uniforms with the famous logo of the freedom wings. Although she still had an hour of sleep, Sophia heard someone banging at her door at barely 6 o’clock. </p>
<p>“- Get up. Go to the stables in ten minutes.“  </p>
<p>She recognised the harsh and cold voice of Levi. Surprised, a bit worried about this news.<br/>Sophia jumped out of her bed, got dressed and said through the door that she will be ready in less than ten.</p>
<p>“- Good. Don’t make me wait. “</p>
<p>No more words were needed, Sophia was ready in time, and got to the stables while still trying to make a ponytail out of her red hair.<br/>« I should cut them off when I have time. » She saw six other people waiting, all seemed very nervous except a young woman. Her name was Eliza, she was also in the top ten, she wasn’t very talkative and didn’t want to make any conversations with anyone. She seemed a bit older than the others, and even looked rather annoyed by all these people chatting about what was happening. A tall black hair man was biting his fingernails, a small brunette was looking in the void while talking with another small man with brown short hair, they seemed to be friends. A tall blonde girl and a tall blonde guy were chatting together, in fact they were more whispering questions between them. The answer to their question came to them in the person of Erwin Smith. Calm as always, he looked at the group and explained to them why they were gathered here. Beside him, his right hand man, Captain Levi. « He is very short compared to Erwin. »thought Sophia, hoping she hadn’t said that out loud.</p>
<p>“- Recruits, you were chosen to be part of a special squad of exploration. You’ll be under the direct order of captain Ackermann here.“ he nodded in his direction while Levi sighed, already fed up by these useless talks. Sophia was proud, she was chosen, she had made it, she wanted to jump of joy but she stayed as calm as she could, feeling the eyes of her now captain on her. </p>
<p>“ - You’ll be working with Hange’s squad as well in order to try to capture a titan alive. But your main goal remains to adventure yourself further in the outside and to protect humanity.“</p>
<p>Gasps were heard when he mentioned the titan’s capture. At this instant, Levi stepped out in front of his commander.</p>
<p> “- If you are already shitting your pants, you can go. I wanna correct something, you are not part of my squad, not yet, I will test you, I will see if you are worthy of my trust and if you are able to follow my orders.”he said while calling his horse. “If you fail, you’ll go back where you belong with a kick in your ass.”</p>
<p>“- Now take your horses and try to keep up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everyone jumped on their horse and tried to keep up with their new chief. It was still dark outside, the moon was guiding there way through the camp and then through the land. None of the new recruits knew where they were heading and why. Sophia had vaguely heard that the special squad had a place for themselves somewhere near the extern wall named Maria. As she was riding her horse at full speed, a bit behind Levi, Eliza came to her side, Sophia was surprised she would engage conversation with her.</p>
<p>“- You’re Sophia Willheim right ?” asked Eliza without showing any emotions at all or even looking at her.</p>
<p>“-Uhm yes, and you are Eliza Brüner ?”</p>
<p>She nodded. She had extremely long blonde hair, tied up in a braid descending to the middle of her back, her small blue eyes were intimidating, Eliza herself was intimidating.</p>
<p>“- Those two there,” she pointed the two tall blond recruits, riding behind them, “They’re twins, Mina and Marck, they joined the scouts after their rich parents died. Didn’t want a life of luxury apparently. The tall tree with black hair there, his name is Will, he wants to help his poor mother by being in the military. And the two dumbasses here, Klara and her best friend Nico, their dads raised them together, are like twins, they ventured outside one time and wanted to get out again.”</p>
<p>“- Why are you telling me all this ?” asked Sophia, genuinely surprised by all of these informations she didn’t even asked for.</p>
<p>“- You weren’t integrated to the group, so I am briefing you. Therefore, it is important to know with who you’re gonna risk your life.” she replied, unbothered.</p>
<p>She was right, Sophia didn’t bother to integrate to a group while training, she didn’t thought it was important. Also, she didn’t want to get attached to anyone because of the nature of their opponents. That is why Sophia only had Hange, because they were a trained soldier, who survived many years, she knew they wouldn’t die on their first mission. <br/>After this small interaction, Eliza had gone quiet and Sophia kicked her horse a bit to keep up at best with her Captain. </p>
<p>“-Where are we going ?” she asked him while arriving to his right side, bracing herself to be shut up by the cold man.</p>
<p>“- You don’t need to know now.” he replied, without even looking at her. Silence came again between the two of them until Sophia, who hadn’t had enough, spoke again.</p>
<p>“- Why us ? Why me ?”</p>
<p>This time, the captain had a true and visible reaction, he glanced at his subordinate to meet these cold and determined eyes of her. But he didn’t say anything. Sophia understood that she shouldn’t ask more questions, she will know the answers in time. Ashamed about this interaction, but still determined to prove this guy what she was made of she stayed by his side to show him she could keep up with him no matter what.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After two hours of ride, they arrived to a small house, near the Maria wall. Levi stopped and got down from his horse, signifying his subordinates to do the same. They led their steeds to small stables. </p>
<p>“- We are going to stay here for a while.” said the captain to his soldiers, already tired by the ride. “The scientific squad is meant to be there in the afternoon, in the meantime, you are going to clean this place up.”</p>
<p>Sophia didn’t believe her ears right away, she knew from Hange that he was a bit of a clean freak but to this point ? She sighed as she attached her horse, bracing herself to be scold by her superior. She watched her comrades being as clueless as her, whispering between them about Levi and his strange order. The redhead knew there was no escape from this, she took a bucket and filled it up with clean water then went cleaning. <br/>There was dust everywhere, “This shit will take days.”, to prevent it lasting longer, Sophia put all of her strength into sweeping. Fortunately, by noon, they had finished all the cleaning, and they saw their salvation coming right at them. Hange on their horse was making big gestures with their arms, their close friend Moblit and two other scout were following them on a chariot.</p>
<p>“- Leviii !” they screamed while getting down of their steed.</p>
<p>The summoned one sighed when Hange came at him all joyful and excited.</p>
<p>“- Have you explained to them what will be doing this afternoon ?” asked the scientist.</p>
<p>The captain disapproved by a sign of his head. All of the new recruits were aligned in one solid rank, awaiting for indications. </p>
<p>“- Squad ! We are going to catch a titan alive !”explained Hange.</p>
<p>“- Or at least try to.” precised Levi.</p>
<p>The operation consisted to go over the wall and lure a titan inside a pre-built little fort against the wall. Fortunately, the fort had already been built a week ago by another group, it consisted of a small barack in stones, approximately ten meters square and ten meters tall, wide enough to welcome a three or four meter class titan. Open on the roof, they could descend by the wall to pin it on the ground and therefore to study it. The job of the cadet was to serve as baits, guide one and kill the others with the help of the seniors, Hange would wait for it and pin it down using spears with Moblit. The cadets were all stressed, except Eliza and Sophia. Both of them had already seen hell, they had seen the titans with their own eyes, the other still haven’t yet. “I wish for everything to go as smoothly as possible.” Thanks to the good omen upon them, the wall was near a big forest, they could fly from it to the safety of the wall, walking was not an option against titans, and if they were to face an abnormal, a horse couldn’t make it. </p>
<p>“- Follow my order, react to them as quickly as possible and you’ll be alive by the end of the day. Go with your own thoughts and you will put everyone in danger. Understood ?” said the cold but leading voice of Levi.</p>
<p>“- Mina, Marck, together, on the left, if you find a titan signal it by a flare and lure them toward the center.” told Hange, not being excited anymore, and showing a serious face Sophia hadn’t ever seen.</p>
<p>“- Klara, Nico, together on the right, same applies to you.” continued the scientist.</p>
<p>“- Eliza with Will, on the back of the forest, Sophia with me, to the front, near the wall, we are the one that are going to lead it in the box, don’t mess up.” finished Levi, preparing his blade.</p>
<p>“- Ay.” said Sophia softly, wondering why she was being paired up with him. She thought she would be with Eliza or Will, therefore, it made more sense for Eliza, as she was the best of their group, to be paired up with the captain. Maybe he thought she was unable to do anything so he wanted to keep an eye on her. Sophia shook her head as she flew away from the wall toward the front of the forest, she couldn’t let her insecurities to rise up now of all time. It determined her to prove him wrong even more than before. After all, she promised him to show what she had. </p>
<p>Sophia landed on the second tree before the wall, Levi next to her. Now, they will have to wait for the others to find a titan. About fifty meters from them, she spotted the long blond hair of Eliza, beside her stood Will. If anything were to happen, Levi and her could quickly join them to help. They were all within a fifty or sixty meters radius, this distance would prevent to put any of the young cadets in danger. Plus, they could all withdraw easily. Suddenly, a green flare was launched from the back of the forest. Sophia was relieved for a brief moment, at least it wasn’t an abnormal. The other cadets from the left and right wing flew toward it to bait it even more. The redhead grasped her blades, ready to fight. All of her comrades were now flying towards Levi and herself, a four meter class titan behind them.</p>
<p>“- Don’t try anything !” screamed Levi. “Withdraw within ten seconds !”</p>
<p>“- You ready ?” he asked, glancing at Sophia.</p>
<p>She nodded, now was the time to finally prove herself. She got into position to fly away to the wall, at a low altitude so the titan would be running to them. But something went wrong, as Eliza changed course, the titan kept following her, completely uninterested by Levi and Sophia. “Shit !”<br/>Levi went after it, Sophia on his heels, he yelled to Eliza to go for the wall which she did in a blink of an eye, and he screamed to her colleague to do the same. Unfortunately, Will had other plans, he didn’t withdraw as asked, he too wanted to prove himself and flew in front of the titan from behind, wanting to lure him toward the fort. But the titan was too quick for him and grabbed his odm gear’s cable. As he was being pulled with strength he screamed. The titan took him in his hand and led him to its mouth. Will tried in vain to get out of its firm grip. Levi quickly got behind and cut its nape while Sophia grabbed the cadet and flew toward the wall, Levi right behind her. “Well, this was a fail.” </p>
<p>Arriving on the top of the wall, she gently let go of him, he let himself fall on his knees to the ground. Hange, Moblit and the others were already there, worried. Sophia smiled at them, telling them everything was fine, nobody was injured, just a bit in shock. Levi arrived, furious, he took Will by the collar, lifting him up from the ground to his size.</p>
<p>“- You piece of shit ! When I say listen to my orders you do so, when I say withdraw, you do so !” yelled Levi.</p>
<p>“- Levi...” tried to interrupt Hange, taking a step forward. </p>
<p>The captain looked at them, his eyes challenging the scientist to interrupt. Hange took a step back, understanding this wasn’t their squad, it was up to Levi to decide what to do with his subordinate.</p>
<p>“- Nonetheless you put your life in danger but also the others !” he punched Will in the face and let him fall on the hard ground. He moaned in pain, putting his hand on his damaged jaw. Sophia shivered from witnessing this scene, she already knew he could be violent but not to this point. Eliza was frowning, looking nowhere, blaming herself too, she should have flew faster towards the captain, she thought she deserved to be punished as well.</p>
<p>“- If I wasn’t there, you would be dead.” said Levi while landing a foot kick in Will’s guts.</p>
<p>“- Stop !” interrupted Sophia, fed up by this violent punishment.</p>
<p>Everyone froze, because no one would dare to put the captain on their back. Levi stopped and watched Sophia, surprised. Her eyes were throwing blades, she walked toward her superior, determined to prove who she is. </p>
<p>“- Don’t you think he is traumatised enough ? He nearly ended on a titan’s mouth ! He has already be punished.” she said, assured.</p>
<p>The captain moved away from Will, crossed his arms on his chest and looked at Sophia, frowning. </p>
<p>“- You know I am the chief, only I decide of a punishment, not you.” he said, calmly.</p>
<p>She nodded, very well aware of this. His eyes were so cold, she felt she would froze to death right here. </p>
<p>“- Yes sir, but it is not fair to beat up a guy that can’t defend himself right now, because of what just happened,” began Sophia, ”Think of your troops, what would they think about a superior who beats up traumatised people within his squad ?”</p>
<p>“- So take his punishment.” he replied without any hesitation.</p>
<p>“- I don’t want to fight you.” said the redhead, now pissed off about such a mean behaviour from her captain.</p>
<p>“- Yes you do, you stood up for him, so now take his punishment.”</p>
<p>Ready to fight, she took position, god knows right now she wanted to beat this guy’s ass up. He threw a punch directly to her stomach, she tried to avoid it but couldn’t and took it full. “Urgh ! He so fast what the-“ Thinking was too much in this situation, she barely escaped another one of his punch and managed to sweep him behind his leg with her foot. He caught up and land a powerful kick on her which made her step back. She began to feel dizzy, the world was turning around her, she tried to hit him once again but she only received a final punch that let her breathless on the ground. Levi walked away, satisfied this fight was already finished. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t take Sophia’s determination in count. The cadet took a respiration and launched herself from the ground toward her superior, she made a jump so high she could wrapped the captain’s neck between her legs and draw him to the ground. Surprised by this unknown method, he choked an instant, thinking fast. Did a cadet really manage to pin him to the ground ? Once he understood, he used his legs to kick Sophia’s head by rolling on his back. Too focused on her grip, she didn’t see it coming and took it right in the forehead. She let him go as the world around her became blurry, she knew she had lost. As she fainted, she thought ;</p>
<p>“ One day, Levi Ackermann, I’ll beat your ass.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, leave Kudos ! or comments ! I hope my english has improved a bit ^^’</p>
<p>you can follow me on twitter where I post drawings of the squad ! @Moon_LightBD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3 : Second attempt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sophia slowly opened her eyes to see Eliza’s, reading by her side. She had the worst migraine she ever had in her entire life. The bed-ridden cadet tried to move without success, instead, she let a moan escaped her lips, which alerted her comrade.</p>
<p>“- Finally ! You’re awake !” exclaimed Eliza, relief on her face.</p>
<p>“- Don’t try to move, the Captain landed a severe kick on you, you’ve been unconscious for more than two hours.” she explained while giving her some water.</p>
<p>Sophia thanked her, and managed to sit up on her bed without feeling too nauseous. She touched her forehead to feel a greasy thing, she looked at her hand then at Eliza asking silently for answers.</p>
<p>“- It is medicine, I heard Hange said that.” understanding the question of her friend.</p>
<p>“- Did... Am I- kicked out ?” demanded Sophia, softly.</p>
<p>Eliza shook her head, disapproving, the redhead sighed in relief. She had thought that she would be sent back to a normal squad since she got in a fight with her superior.</p>
<p>“- None of you is fired,” smiled the blonde girl, “Actually, the captain was quite impressed with your performance, I heard him talking with Hange about it.”</p>
<p>Talking about the devil, someone knocked on the door. </p>
<p>“- Come in.” both said. </p>
<p>The captain entered the room, with a neutral face, as always. But Sophia spotted something else in his cold grey eyes, she saw, for the first time, admiration. He told Eliza to go, he wanted to discuss with the cadet alone. As Levi took place, a cold atmosphere did as well. Sophia wasn’t feeling comfortable at all, she thought she failed to show him her determination and her strength.</p>
<p>“- You did well on the mission.” began Levi, “I didn’t order you anything but you knew what to do in the right moment, you grabbed this dumbass and saved him.”</p>
<p>“- Captain... I-“</p>
<p>“- You have a talent to think fast,” interrupted her superior, “You are valuable to this squad.”<br/>Sophia didn’t say anything, appreciating his praises about her, she didn’t want to cut short of the moment. A faint smile appeared on her face, brightening her eyes, she looked to her captain. For once, since he first saw her, he didn’t see such cold and determined eyes, on the contrary, her eyes were joyful and happy, they weren’t as dark as usual, they were brighter, it was a comforting view for him. It brightened his eyes as well, which was unusual. Sophia appreciated this moment even more. They didn’t break the contact for a while, silently showing their respect for each other. </p>
<p>“- So I am not kicked out am I ?” asked Sophia, to be sure of what Eliza had already said.</p>
<p>“- No.” </p>
<p>He got up and turn away toward the door, as he was walking, he stopped. Without looking at her, he asked ;</p>
<p>“- Where did you learn to do this thing where you strangle someone with your legs ?”</p>
<p>First surprised, she smiled softly, understanding he didn’t knew this kind of hand-to-hand combat. </p>
<p>“- Home.” she simply replied as Levi left the room.</p>
<p>“Home. What is home ?”, she thought, looking through her window only to see the big grey wall, standing in front of the barrack. Sometimes, she would feel a bit homesick, but never for long, her home never treated her well. In fact, they did try to kill her one time, and they threatened her all family too. “I wonder if they are still alive.” She missed her younger sister, Sara, she was only twelve years old when she had to go, but they promised not to do her any harm. A great sadness embraced her as the sun was setting, she could lie to herself every day but deep down Sophia was terribly sad. Apparently, the kick she received made the memories buried in her mind to rise up again. A silent tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of Sara, the play time with her, her friends back there, the smiles, the joy, no titans. She saw her again, her long blond hair floating in the air as she played, Sophia wanted to run and hug her but she wasn’t able to move for an inch, watching the image of her beloved sister go blurry and disappear to let place to two men, in a beige uniform. Lost in her thought, the redhead didn’t hear Eliza coming back to her room with a warm meal. </p>
<p>“- You okay?”she asked in a sweet voice.</p>
<p>Sophia jumped to the sound of her voice, surprised, she quickly wiped out the tear from her cheek before turning to the blond cadet.</p>
<p>“- Yeah, don’t worry.” the redhead said, “I am just a bit shaken.”</p>
<p>“- Did this moron say something to you ?” asked Eliza while giving her the plate.</p>
<p>There was bowl of soup on it, warm, the smell made her stomach gurgle, damn she was angry, a small loaf of bread was also on the plate. Eliza sat beside her while she was eating, she demanded what had happened with Levi. Sophia said nothing more than what occurred.</p>
<p>“- Then why were you crying ?”</p>
<p>“- I was thinking about my sister,” she replied while taking a mouthful piece of bread.</p>
<p>Eliza got quiet, looking into the void of the near empty room, memories flashing through her eyes. Sophia noted her change of behaviour, and proceeded to ask her if she said something wrong.</p>
<p>“- No no, it’s just, I miss my sister too.” simply replied the blonde hair girl, still looking into the void.</p>
<p>Sophia understood clearly that something had happened to Eliza’s sister, she wanted to ask what but didn’t want to disturb her new friend or to make her uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“- She died, she was in the scout as well,” began the cadet, “They only brought me her hand back.”</p>
<p>“- I am so sorry.”</p>
<p>“- It’s okay, I am fighting for her memory now.”</p>
<p>She then became silent, still staring into the emptiness of the room, Sophia quietly eating beside her, she would never have thought Eliza would confessed such private things with her. The red head deduced that Eliza was somehow feeling more comfortable around her than she felt with the other cadets, maybe because instinctively she knew Sophia had been through something similar.</p>
<p>“- I don’t know if my sister is still alive.” said Sophia without really thinking, maybe she just wanted it out of her mind.</p>
<p>Eliza looked at her with compassion, they understood each other without talking, it was a nice feeling. They talked about all and nothing until the middle of the night, both happy to have found a relatable and understandable friend in each other. </p>
<p>The next day, they attempted to catch a titan alive again, without any casualties possible. Will had been scold so much by the captain, he looked tinier than before, he tanked Sophia many times for stepping up for him. </p>
<p>“- It’s nothing !” she replied, smiling, “But think more carefully before pulling up anything like that, ever again.” continued Sophia, staring directly into the pupils of the tall man, cold as ice. He stuttered something, impressed by the dark cold brown eyes of the small woman, they were throwing knifes. Sophia never thought that beating someone was helpful for them to learn their mistakes, but being intimidating and convincing were. </p>
<p>The plan was similar to the previous one, except Will was watched by an annoyed Levi and Eliza was paired up with Sophia, they were entrusted to the back, they were the one to lure the titan inside the little fort. A bit stressed, Sophia had discussed with Eliza about the plan saying they should wait the very last moment before launching themselves to the wall so the titan would be sure to follow them. The blonde cadet agreed with the idea, ready to put the plan to execution. They had to wait an hour on their tree, waiting for a titan to show up somewhere, she hoped no one was in such a danger they couldn’t fire the signal. Fortunately, there were only small titan in that area, and they weren’t many since they were far away from a city. Executing the plan in a city would have meant to deal with frightened citizens, and if something went wrong there would be civil casualties, so they had to come up with it in a desertic area such as this one. Lost in her thought, Sophia didn’t see the green flare coming from their right where the twins, Mina and Marck where stationed. They responded with a green signal as well, so did the two other squad, Levi and Marck, Klara and Nico, whom went flying toward the center of the forest to lure the titan in. Sophia got into position, glanced at Eliza, getting ready as well, her bright blue eyes looking straight to the three meter titan running to them at full speed. </p>
<p>“- Don’t play heroes !” yelled Levi while passing them and going to the wall with the five others cadets.</p>
<p>Sophia and Eliza were afraid the monster wouldn’t follow if they departed right now, it was now at twenty-five meters from them. </p>
<p>“- Wait a bit more.” the redhead whispered. Eliza shook her head in agreement, ready to go.</p>
<p>When it was close enough, at less than ten meters, the two women launches their flairs toward the wall, horizontally so they would stay in the titan’s vision. It began to ran after them, it was quick, quicker than expected. Sophia could smell it’s breath coming to them as they arrived to the fort. They went up, flying away from the ground and directly to the top of the wall where all of their friends where waiting. As soon as they arrived, Hange’s squad went down at full speed, with enormous nails, and managed to pin the titan down within a few minutes. All of the cadets were holding their breath as they watched the operation going on. They began by its arms and legs, then attached its head to the ground with a strong leather harness. Sophia was impressed by their velocity and experience, she knew Hange had already managed to catch two titans before, but she would never have thought they would be this good at this. Once they had finished, they joined the group and everyone started cheering. The mission was a success. </p>
<p>They all decided it was time to enjoy it, when the Hange’s squad arrived they had brought food and drinks, but in the wooden house was an old box with old wines in it. They wondered if this was edible and decided it was, so they prepared a little something. The cadets were all surexcited, they had led their mission to success and helped the humanity to learn a bit more about their perpetrators, and the outside world. Everyone was buzzed, Hange was so happy she hugged Sophia a thousand times while jumping and tried to do the same with Levi whom threatened to kick them outside the wall if they ever tried again. Sophia learned this evening that Niko and Klara were raised up by a cook and knew a thing or two about cuisine, they managed to prepare a delicious meal with meat. They were very nice, always smiling, Sophia helped them to prepare the fabulous dinner even though she never had really cooked in her life. They taught her without any judgements, she was truly happy to learn all of these recipes. Eliza stood by, helping the twins to set up the table with Will, Hange was writing as her life depended on it about the titan they had captured, Moblit tried to tell her to rest a bit and just to enjoy the smell of the beef stew. Sophia turned around to talk to Eliza when she saw Levi, leaning on the wall, watching his subordinates laughing and preparing this sort of small party. He smiled, a faint, very small smile, but Sophia had spotted it anyway, she couldn’t believe it at first but his smile was reflecting in his eyes too. <br/>He noted Sophia watching him with a certain insistence, as he met her brown eyes he looked away and stopped smiling. The redhead noticed his cheeks were blushing a bit but didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable so she looked away too and started asking questions to Klara and Niko about the aromatics herbs they were using.<br/>As everyone was happily filled with the delicious stew and the old, bitter wine, the more courageous cadets started singing in the dining room. Will and Marck, the two biggest guy in the room stood up and arm in arm sang a joyful and catchy song. Sophia was a bit tipsy as well as Eliza, they both decided to join them in their song by adding their alto and soprano voices. Hange started clapping to encourage the improvised band. Klara and the Marck’s twin, Mina came in the center and danced together. Moblit tried to invite Hange but they had already run in the center to show off their approximate moves, leaving him behind. All were smiling and laughing, the rest of Hange’s squad had now joined the singers and dancers. As everyone was having their fun, Sophia saw Levi in the background, fixing them or her, she didn’t knew at this time, not showing any intentions of joining the ongoing party. She knew he was reserved, but this was a fun time to share with comrades, maybe even the last one with some of them, the cadets were all aware of this and tried to make the more memories they could. She wondered why he didn’t want to be a part of it. Maybe, just watching was enough for the captain. As the alcohol hit her a bit harder, she decided to go to him. Sophia grabbed a chair and sat beside him, he looked surprise of the unexpected attention.</p>
<p>“- Why don’t you join ? I am sure you know how to sing or dance, even Hange knows.” she said, letting go a little laugh as she looked at Hange doing improbable moves. </p>
<p>“- Tch.”</p>
<p>“- Come on, you’re human, everyone wants to have fun !” she replied, a bit exasperated.</p>
<p>“- It’s not my style to do any of this.” he simply replied, while taking a sip of his tea with his weird hand’s gesture.</p>
<p>Sophia hadn’t had any patience left due to her alcohol consommation, she took Levi by the hand and forced him to get up.</p>
<p>“- Come on Captain, you owe me a dance after kicking my forehead this hard !” </p>
<p>He resisted with an annoyed look, Levi managed to escape the grip of the redhead and looked right in her eyes with a cold death stare.</p>
<p>“- Leave me alone, Cadet, don’t make me repeat myself.” he said while walking to the door.</p>
<p>Sophia felt her heart dropped, she didn’t want to make him leave, she wanted to have a nice time and most importantly, she wanted him to have a nice time since he looked rather annoyed or sad all the time. Hange saw her deception and came to her while dancing weirdly.</p>
<p>“- Hey, are you okay ?” they asked, concerned by the sad look on their dear friend’s face.</p>
<p>“- Levi left. I wanted him to have fun, that’s all.” Sophia answered in a small voice.</p>
<p>“- It’s okay, Levi don’t really like these sort of things, I am sure he isn’t mad at you. Don’t worry.” they reassured her while pulling her in a warm hug.</p>
<p>“- But why ? He knows that maybe tomorrow some of us will be gone.” Sophia replied, giving the hug back. <br/>Hange’s arms felt safe, and comforting, it was nice to feel protected sometimes.</p>
<p>“- That’s exactly why he doesn’t like this.” the scientist said, “I think, he doesn’t want to be too attached to us.”</p>
<p>“- I understand, it would be too painful.” admitted Sophia as she slowly got away from the warm hug, she had done the same thing herself, she had made no efforts to be part of a group in fear to be hurt if they died. But now, being part of the special squad had made her rethink her state of mind, it was impossible not to get attached since they had to be close in order to trust each other.<br/>Soon after, this, she decided to go outside to take some fresh air and to clear her mind from the old bitter wine.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>more of a fun chapter ! I hope they’ll be happy for a long time lol</p>
<p>as always, kudos, comment, say what you think ! Thanks a lot for reading ! </p>
<p>you can follow me on twitter @Moon_LightBD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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